Control station apparatus and control method thereof, communication apparatus and control method thereof, and wireless communication system

ABSTRACT

A control station apparatus performs wireless communication with a plurality of communication apparatuses and sends data to the communication apparatuses. The control station apparatus receives, from each of the communication apparatuses, identification information of other communication apparatuses with which the communication apparatus is capable of wireless communication; selects, from among the plurality of communication apparatuses, at least one relay apparatus that relays transmission of the data, based on the received identification information; determines a communication timing for the relaying performed by the selected relay apparatus; and notifies the selected relay apparatus of an instruction to perform data relay and the communication timing. The control station selects the relay apparatus so that a communication apparatus that receives the data from the control station apparatus via two or more transmission paths is present.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a control station apparatus and acontrol method thereof, a communication apparatus and a control methodthereof, and a wireless communication system.

2. Description of the Related Art

As a conventional scheme that transmits data in a stable manner betweendevices connected via a communication path, a scheme is known in whichplural wireless stations that relay data on transmission paths betweendevices are disposed, and relay transmission paths are realized overplural paths (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.2005-236632). Additionally, a scheme that causes a wireless terminalstation to operate as a relay station rather than using a dedicatedrelay station is known as a scheme for carrying out relay transmission(for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-332977).

Furthermore, a scheme that transmits the same data plural times in orderto realize an improvement in the reliability of the data to betransmitted through redundant data transmission is known (for example,see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-22671). In particular, as amethod for transmitting data, a scheme that controls pluraltransmissions of broadcast or multicast data to which retransmissioncontrol cannot be applied is known (for example, see Japanese PatentLaid-Open No. 2003-37606).

With the method that configures plural paths using the conventionalrelay transmission path, the state of traffic on the transmission pathand the connection status of the line are confirmed, and in the casewhere a problem has arisen in the transmission path, the datatransmission is carried out on plural pre-set paths (Japanese PatentLaid-Open No. 2005-236632). However, in this configuration, thetransmission path is switched after the occurrence of a problem on thetransmission path has been detected. For this reason, there is a problemthat when transmitting stream data, which has a short period of validity(lifetime), communication is momentarily interrupted, and transmissioncannot be carried out correctly. There is another problem that whenperforming transmission of stream data synchronized with plural devicesfrom a data transmitting device, different transmission paths are setfor each device, and thus the time at which the data will reach thedevices cannot be guaranteed.

Furthermore, there is a method in which a terminal station connected toa control station detects other terminal stations with whichcommunication is possible; after this, a representative relay terminalis determined and a terminal group configured, whereby data istransmitted and relayed from the control station to terminals under thecontrol of the representative relay terminal (Japanese Patent Laid-OpenNo. 2003-332977). This method also proposes causing the frequencies usedby the control station and the terminal group to match, whereby theterminal station that correctly receives data relays the data to therepresentative relay terminal in the case where the representative relayterminal could not correctly receive the data. However, in thisconfiguration, the data transmitted to the terminal station undercontrol of the terminal group terminates once at the representativerelay terminal, whereupon the representative relay terminal performstransfer control that includes retransmission. For this reason, in thecase where retransmission control is undertaken between the controlstation and the representative relay terminal, a significant delayoccurs in the transmission of data between the control station and theterminal. There is another problem that a procedure is necessary for theterminal station to be aware that the representative relay terminal hasfailed in receiving the data, in the case where the terminal stationcarried out relays; accordingly, an excess control procedure arises inaddition to the normal communication process, and the transmission delayincreases even more. There is yet another problem that a procedure forswitching retransmission control among terminal stations with which thecontrol station does not communicate directly is also necessary, andthus the control becomes complicated.

Within the redundant data transmission method, there is a technique inwhich the same packet is transmitted multiple times, the receivedpackets are compared, and the optimum packet is selected as a result ofa majority decision (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-22671). There isalso a method that suppresses needless transmission by controlling thenumber of transmissions in accordance with the status of the system(Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-37606). However, there is a problemwith this method in that the effects of this method cannot be obtainedwhen the wireless transmission path is temporarily unable to carry outcommunication, in the case where the same packet is transmitted pluraltimes between terminals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Having been conceived in light of the abovementioned problems, thepresent invention provides a technique that prevents data loss stemmingfrom changes in the communication environment and that is capable oftransmitting data wirelessly with high reliability, in a system in whichdata is transmitted wirelessly from a control station to pluralcommunication apparatuses.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a control stationapparatus that performs wireless communication with a plurality ofcommunication apparatuses and sends data to the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses, the control station apparatus comprises:

a receiving unit adapted to receive, from each of the communicationapparatuses, identification information of other communicationapparatuses with which the communication apparatus is capable ofwireless communication;

a selection unit adapted to select, from among the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses, at least one relay apparatus that relaystransmission of the data, based on the received identificationinformation;

a determination unit adapted to determine a communication timing for therelaying performed by the relay apparatus selected by the selectionunit; and

a notification unit adapted to notify the relay apparatus selected bythe selection unit of an instruction to perform data relay and thecommunication timing;

wherein the selection unit selects the relay apparatus so that acommunication apparatus that receives the data from the control stationapparatus via two or more transmission paths is present.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a communicationapparatus used in a wireless communication system that includes aplurality of communication apparatuses and a control station apparatusthat sends data to the plurality of communication apparatuses, thecommunication apparatus comprises:

a sending unit adapted to send, to the control station apparatus,identification information of other communication apparatuses with whichthe communication apparatus is capable of wireless communication;

a data receiving unit adapted to receive the data from the othercommunication apparatuses or the control station apparatus; and

a sending control unit adapted to control sending of the received datain accordance with the communication timing in the case where thecontrol station apparatus has notified the communication apparatus of adata relay instruction and the communication timing at which the relayis to be performed.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, a wirelesscommunication system comprises a plurality of communication apparatusesand a control station apparatus that sends data to the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses,

wherein the control station apparatus includes:

a receiving unit adapted to receive, from each of the communicationapparatuses, identification information of other communicationapparatuses with which the communication apparatus is capable ofwireless communication;

a selection unit adapted to select, from among the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses, at least one relay apparatus that relaystransmission of the data, based on the received identificationinformation;

a determination unit adapted to determine a communication timing for therelaying performed by the relay apparatus selected by the selectionunit; and

a notification unit adapted to notify the relay apparatus selected bythe selection unit of an instruction to perform data relay and thecommunication timing, and

each of the communication apparatuses includes:

a sending unit adapted to send the identification information to thecontrol station apparatus;

a data receiving unit adapted to receive the data from the othercommunication apparatuses or the control station apparatus; and

a sending control unit adapted to control sending of the received datain accordance with the communication timing in the case where the datarelay instruction and the communication timing has been notified, and

the selection unit selects the relay apparatus so that the communicationapparatus that receives the data from the control station apparatus viatwo or more transmission paths is present.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a controlmethod for a control station apparatus that performs wirelesscommunication with a plurality of communication apparatuses and sendsdata to the plurality of communication apparatuses, the control methodcomprises:

a step of receiving in which a receiving unit receives, from each of thecommunication apparatuses, identification information of othercommunication apparatuses with which the communication apparatus iscapable of wireless communication;

a step of selecting in which a selection unit selects, from among theplurality of communication apparatuses, at least one relay apparatusthat relays transmission of the data, based on the receivedidentification information;

a step of determining in which a determination unit determines acommunication timing for the relaying performed by the relay apparatusselected in the step of selecting; and

a step of notifying in which a notification unit notifies the relayapparatus selected in the step of selecting of an instruction to performdata relay and the communication timing,

wherein in the step of selecting, the selecting is performed so that acommunication apparatus that receives the data from the control stationapparatus via two or more transmission paths is present.

According to still yet another aspect of the present invention, acontrol method for a communication apparatus used in a wirelesscommunication system that includes a plurality of communicationapparatuses and a control station apparatus that sends data to theplurality of communication apparatuses, the control method comprises:

a step of sending in which a sending unit sends, to the control stationapparatus, identification information of other communication apparatuseswith which the communication apparatus is capable of wirelesscommunication;

a step of receiving data in which a data receiving unit receives thedata from the other communication apparatuses or the control stationapparatus; and

a step of controlling sending in which a sending control unit controlssending of the received data in accordance with the communication timingin the case where the control station apparatus has notified thecommunication apparatus of a data relay instruction and thecommunication timing at which the relay is to be performed.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to theattached drawings).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of acontrol station and nodes.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a controlstation.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a node.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are sequence diagrams illustrating a sequence throughwhich a control station detects nodes.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating node detection processing, theexecution of which is controlled by a control unit of the controlstation.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are sequence diagrams illustrating a sequence throughwhich a node searches for peripheral nodes capable of wirelesscommunication in response to an instruction from the control station.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are flowcharts illustrating node search processing, theexecution of which is controlled by the control unit of the controlstation, so that a node can search for peripheral nodes capable ofwireless communication based on the control station.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an information table thatshows the results of a peripheral node search carried out by each nodesaved in a memory of the control station.

FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically illustrating transmitted data.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing fordetermining the number of relay communication slots, the execution ofwhich is controlled by the control unit of the control station.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for relay node selectionsetting processing performed so that the selection of a relay node fromamong plural nodes can be set, the procedure being controlled by thecontrol unit of the control station.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a restructuredinformation table that shows the results of each node searching forperipheral nodes.

FIGS. 12A-12C are sequence diagrams illustrating data transmission andrelay transmission operations performed by the control station andnodes.

FIG. 13 is a diagram specifying the information used when transmittingdata frames, in the frame format transmitted by the control station andnodes.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for data receptionprocessing, the execution of which is controlled by the control unit ofeach node.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for data relayprocessing, the execution of which is controlled by the control unit ofa node selected as a relay node.

FIGS. 16A-16C are sequence diagrams illustrating another method throughwhich a control station detects nodes.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are sequence diagrams illustrating a procedure formeasuring the communication quality between the control terminal andnodes after the control station has detected the nodes.

FIG. 18 is a communication quality measurement result table showingresults of the measurement of communication quality.

FIGS. 19A and 19B are flowcharts illustrating communication qualitymeasurement processing performed between the control station and nodes.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a relay node selection settingprocessing that refers to the communication quality information.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention shall be described indetail with reference to the appended drawings. Note that theconstituent elements denoted in the following embodiments are onlyexamples, and the scope of the present invention is not intended to belimited thereto.

First Embodiment

Hereinafter, the configurations and control operations of a controlstation (control station apparatus) and terminal stations (communicationapparatuses; denoted as “nodes” hereinafter) of the present embodimentshall be described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 16.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of acontrol station and nodes according to the present embodiment. In FIG.1, 101 is a control station that executes processing for generating aredundant communication path (a transmission path that passes through arelay apparatus) according to the present embodiment. 102 to 107 areindividual nodes capable of operating as relay nodes. 108 is thewireless communication range of the control station 101. 109 is a dataprocessing apparatus that generates data to be transmitted to each ofthe nodes. 110 to 116 are tables showing the nodes capable of wirelesscommunication with each node.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the controlstation 101, whereas FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating theconfiguration of nodes 102 to 107. Note that while FIG. 2B illustratesthe configuration of the node 102 as a representative example, theconfiguration of nodes 103 to 107 is identical.

In FIGS. 2A and 2B, 201 and 207 are wireless communication units thatfunction as carrier detection units for detecting electric waves on atransmission path and also have functions for transmitting/receivingdata using electric waves and controlling antennas. In particular, thewireless communication unit 207 functions as a signal receiving meansthat receives a wireless signal from an external device. 202 and 208 arecontrol units that perform processing according to the presentembodiment. 203 and 209 are memories that store data and controlprograms. 204 and 210 are timers for measuring the time necessary forcommunication control, and are configured of plural independent timers.205 is an external interface for communicating data, controlinformation, and the like from the data processing apparatus 109 to thecontrol station 101. 212 is a signal processing unit that performsprocessing on data received from the control station 101. 206 and 211are antennas for inputting/outputting electric waves duringtransmission/reception performed by the wireless communication units 201and 207.

Note that it is also possible to configure the abovementionedconstituent elements through software that implements the same functionsas those constituent elements, rather than through hardware devices.

In the present embodiment, the control station and nodes arerespectively described as being configured of a single device, for thesake of simplicity; however, they may have configurations in which theirresources are spread throughout plural devices. For example, theconfiguration may be implemented so that the storage and computationalresources are spread throughout plural devices. Alternatively, theresources may be spread per process implemented virtually in thedevices, with processing being carried out in parallel.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are sequence diagrams illustrating a sequence throughwhich the control station 101 detects the nodes 102 to 107. FIG. 4 is aflowchart illustrating a procedure for node detection processing, theexecution of which is controlled by the control unit 202 of the controlstation 101. FIGS. 5A and 5B are sequence diagrams illustrating asequence through which a node searches for (detects) peripheral nodescapable of wireless communication in response to an instruction from thecontrol station 101. FIGS. 6A and 6B are flowcharts illustrating aprocedure for node search processing, the execution of which iscontrolled by the control unit 202, so that a node can search forperipheral nodes capable of wireless communication based on the controlstation 101. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of aninformation table showing the results of the nodes 102 to 107 searchingfor peripheral nodes, the table being stored in the memory 203 of thecontrol station 101. FIGS. 3A to 7 shall be described in reference tothe following explanations.

FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically illustrating transmitted dataaccording to the present embodiment. 801 to 806 are data transmitted torespective nodes, the data being generated by the data processingapparatus 109, and are, for example, stream data of an acoustic signal.807 is the period of validity of the data. 808 is multiplexed data inwhich the transmission data 801 to 806 of the respective nodes iscompressed on the time axis for the purpose of wireless transmission.809 is the amount of time necessary for the data indicated by 808 to bewirelessly transmitted. 810 is a beacon signal outputted from thecontrol station 101 to all nodes. 811 to 813 indicate the time until arelay node relays received data.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing fordetermining the number of relay communication slots, the execution ofwhich is controlled by the control unit 202 of the control station 101.FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for relay node selectionsetting processing (redundant path setting processing) performed so thatthe selection of a relay node from among plural nodes can be set, theprocedure being controlled by the control unit 202 of the controlstation 101. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the resultof reconfiguring the information table showing the results of the nodes102 to 107 searching for peripheral nodes, the table being stored in thememory 203 for the control unit 202 of the control station 101 to carryout relay node selection processing. FIGS. 12A-12C are sequence diagramsillustrating data transmission and relay transmission operationsperformed by the control station 101 and nodes 102 to 107. FIGS. 9 to 12shall also be described in reference to the following explanations.

FIG. 13 is a diagram indicating the information used when transmittingdata frames, in the frame format transmitted by the control station 101and nodes 102 to 107. 1301 is a frame type field, identifying the frametype; 1302 is a command frame; 1303 is a response frame; and 1304 showsthat code indicating the data frames is written. 1305 is a destinationaddress field into which unique identification information of acommunication partner (identification information) or broadcastinformation receivable by all nodes is written. 1306 is an originaddress field into which unique identification information of the originin written.

1307 is a control field into which information necessary for frametransmission is written, and is configured of a subtype area 1308 and aparameter area 1309. 1310 shows that code indicating data frames iswritten in the subtype area 1308; 1311 is an area in which the number ofmultiplexed layers in the data transmitted as data frames is written.1312 is an area in which identification information of the data iswritten, where code indicating “source” is written when the data frameis transmitted from the control station, and code indicating “relay” iswritten when the data frame is transmitted from a relay node. 1313 is afield in which time stamp information is written. 1314 is a frame checksequence for detecting errors in the frame header, from the frame typefield to the time stamp field.

1315 is an information field storing data of each of the nodes, whereall the data of each of the nodes is stored. 1316 is a dataidentification information area for identifying one piece of node datastored in the information field 1315; information such as a datasequence number or an address indicating node A 102, through which thenode can be identified, is written in this field. 1317 is a lengthinformation area indicating the length of the data that follows. 1318 isa data/error error correction code area storing data addressed to thenode. The data to be transferred is not the only item stored in thedata/error correction code area 1318; for example, data encoded througherror correction code such as Reed-Solomon coding or convolutionalencoding can also be stored therein. Through this, it is possible toimplement a configuration in which error correction can be carried outusing the information stored in the data/error correction code area1318. 1319 is an area in which a frame check sequence for detectingerrors in the data from the data identification information area 1316 tothe data area 1318 is stored.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for data receptionprocessing, the execution of which is controlled by the control unit 208of each node (for example, node 102). FIG. 15 is a flowchartillustrating a procedure for data relay processing, the execution ofwhich is controlled by the control unit 208 of the node selected as therelay node. FIGS. 16A-16C are sequence diagrams illustrating anothermethod through which the control station 101 detects nodes. FIGS. 14 to16 shall also be described in reference to the following explanations.

(Outline of Processing)

In the exemplary configuration shown in FIG. 1, in order to transmitdata from the data processing apparatus 109, the control station 101 andnodes 102 to 107 carry out the following processing, therebytransmitting data to the nodes 102 to 107.

(1) Node Detection Processing

First, the control station 101 performs processing for detecting thenodes to which the data is to be transferred, by detecting the nodesthat are capable of wireless communication with the control station 101itself.

(2) Peripheral Node Search Processing

Next, the nodes 102 to 107 performs processing for searching for(detecting) other nodes capable of wireless communication with the nodethat is performing the search, and notify the control station 101 of theidentification information of nodes that are found.

(3) Relay Communication Slot Computation Processing

Next, the control station 101 calculates the number of relaycommunication slots that can be allocated in a beacon period. Here, thetransmission time of the data to be transmitted in the beacon period iscalculated based on the amount of data to be transmitted in the beaconperiod and the bandwidth usable in communication between devices; then,the number of relay communication slots that can be allocated in thebeacon period is calculated based on the transmission time and thebeacon period. Note that the relay communication slot is a period forperforming relay transmission of the data, and is equivalent to therelay communication timing.

(4) Relay Node Selection Setting Processing

Next, the control station 101 selects a relay node (relay apparatus) torelay the transmission of the data from plural nodes based on thereceived identification information, and sets the relay communicationtiming in accordance with the selected relay apparatus. The selection ofthe relay apparatus and setting of the communication timing is carriedout based on the number of relay communication slots calculated in therelay communication slot calculation processing. Then, the selectedrelay apparatus is notified of an instruction to relay the data and thecommunication timing. The setting mentioned here is carried out so thata node that receives data from the control station 101 via two or moretransmission paths is present.

(5) Data Transmission Processing

Next, the control station 101 transmits the data that is to betransmitted. The node selected as the relay apparatus performsprocessing for relaying the received data. In other words, the nodenotified by the control station 101 of the instruction to relay the dataand the communication timing controls transmission of the received datain accordance with the notified communication timing.

Each processing shall be described in detail hereinafter.

(Node Detection Processing)

Next, node detection processing (connection processing) shall bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. Hereinafter, the descriptionsshall follow the sequence illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B and theprocedure illustrated in the flowchart in FIG. 4.

First, when the power of the control station 101 is turned on, thecontrol unit 202 resets the wireless communication unit 201, setsinformation necessary for beacon transmission, such as the beaconperiod, and then commences transmission of a beacon signal 301. Havingfinished instructing the beacon transmission, the control unit 202 setsa connection standby timer value in the timer 204, proceeds to theconnection processing operations, and starts the connection standbytimer, in Step S401 of FIG. 4. Then, the procedure moves to Step S402, astep of confirming a connection request from a node, where theconnection request is confirmed. Here, in the case where a connectionrequest is not detected (NO in Step S402), the procedure moves to aconnection standby time timeout monitoring step S407, where a connectionstandby time timeout is confirmed. Then, in the case where theconnection standby time has not passed (NO in Step S407), the procedureonce again moves to the connection request confirmation step S402, wherea connection request is confirmed. This processing is repeated until aconnection request is detected in Step S402 (YES in Step S402) or untilthe standby time has passed (YES in Step S407). In other words, thecontrol unit stands by for the reception of a connection request from anode from when the connection standby timer is started in Step S401until when the connection standby timer times out.

Assuming that a connection standby time timeout 315 is detected in theconnection standby time timeout monitoring step S407 (YES in Step S407),the control unit 202 ends the connection processing, and confirmswhether plural nodes have already been detected. Here, in the case whereplural nodes have not been detected, and there is no data transmissioninstruction from the data processing apparatus 109, the control unit 202returns once again to Step S401 and performs the connection processing.In the case where the control unit 202 of the control station 101 hasconfirmed that there are already plural detected nodes, the control unit202 does not perform the connection processing, but rather moves to thenode search processing (315 to 319) shown in FIG. 3B.

On the other hand, after each of the nodes 102 to 107 is powered on, thewireless communication units 207 thereof are reset under the control ofthe control unit 208, after which the procedure for detecting thereception of the beacon signal 301 transmitted from the control station101 is repeated.

In the example given in FIGS. 3A and 3B, when the beacon signal 301 isdetected by the node F 107, the wireless communication unit 207 of thenode F 107 outputs beacon detection information to the control unit 208.Having received the beacon detection information, the control unit 208outputs an instruction for the wireless communication unit 207 totransmit a connection request signal to the control station 101. Havingreceived this instruction, the wireless communication unit 207 sensescarriers on the wireless space transmission path for a random backofftime 302 in which a random value is generated. In the case wherecarriers of other nodes have not been detected during the random backofftime, the wireless communication unit 207 transmits a connection request303 to the control station 101, and stands by for reception of aconnection acknowledgment signal 307, as shown in FIG. 3A.

When the connection request reception 304 is detected by the controlstation 101 (YES in Step S402), the connection processing performed bythe control unit 202 of the control station 101 moves to Step S403, andthe connection standby timer is reset. Then, the procedure moves to StepS404, and processing for transmitting the connection acknowledgmentsignal is performed. In the connection acknowledgment signaltransmission processing (Step S404), a connection acknowledgment signal306, in which the unique identification information of the node Fincluded in the connection request 304 is set in the destinationaddress, is generated and transmitted to the node F 107 via the wirelesscommunication unit 201. Then, the procedure moves to a detected noderegistration processing step S405. In Step S405, the uniqueidentification information of the node F 107 acquired earlier isregistered in a detected node table 308 and stored in the memory 203.Then, in Step S406, the connection request detection operations arecarried out once again after starting the connection standby timer.

On the other hand, the node F 107 that has received the connectionacknowledgment signal 307 from the control station 101 goes into aconnected state, and stands by for reception of a peripheral node searchinstruction signal or data from the control station 101, as shown inFIG. 3A.

In the example shown in FIG. 3A, a connection request 310 is nexttransmitted from the node B 103 after a random backoff time 309. Inresponse to this, upon receiving the connection request 311, the controlstation 101 transmits a connection acknowledgment signal 312 using thesame connection processing as used with the node F 107, and registersthe information of the node B 103 in a detected node table 314. On theother hand, in the same manner as the node F 107, the node B 103 thathas received the connection acknowledgment signal 313 from the controlstation 101 goes into a connected state, and stands by for reception ofa peripheral node search instruction signal or data from the controlstation 101. In this manner, the connection processing is repeated bythe control unit 202 of the control station 101; the connectionprocessing ends and the procedure moves to the node search processingupon confirmation that plural detected nodes are present after theconnection standby time has passed.

In the present embodiment, a configuration that controls the executionof the node search processing based on the connection standby timetimeout occurring in the control station 101 and the number of detectednodes is described as an example. However, in the case where the controlstation 101 is notified of information of the number of communicatingnodes in advance by the data processing apparatus 109 via the externalinterface 205, it is possible to control the connection processing basedon the notified information. For example, a configuration is possiblewhere, in the case where the control station is notified by the dataprocessing apparatus 109 that the number of communicating nodes is sixbut has only detected three nodes, the connection processing iscontinued even if two detected nodes are confirmed after the connectionstandby time has timed out. Furthermore, a configuration is possiblewhere a maximum number of timeouts for the connection standby time isset in the control unit 202 of the control station 101 during theseoperations, and in the case where a predetermined number of nodes hasnot been detected even after this number has been exceeded, errorinformation is transmitted to the data processing apparatus 109 and theprocessing ends.

Additionally, the previous descriptions provide an example in which thebeacon signal 301 is transmitted from the control station 101, and thenodes 102 to 107 that have received the beacon signal 301 automaticallyproceed to connection operations. However, the node detection operationis not limited hereto; as shown in FIGS. 16A-16C, node searching may beperformed actively by the control station 101. By performing suchprocessing when appropriate, the possibility of reducing the amount ofsearch time increases in the case where the number of nodes to beconnected is known in advance and the number of detected nodes fulfillsthat value. Hereinafter, operations for performing active node detectionshall be described with reference to FIGS. 16A-16C.

In the same manner as the previous descriptions, when the control unit202 of the control station 101 proceeds to the node detectionoperations, the control station 101 generates a device search signal1601 using a broadcast receivable by all nodes, and transmits the devicesearch signal 1601 via the wireless communication unit 201. Then, apredetermined node detection time is set in the timer 204, andmeasurement of a device search response time commences (1602). The nodes102 to 107 that receive the device search signal 1603 perform carriersensing for a random backoff time 1604 in order to avoid accessconflicts, and the node F 107, for which the random backoff time hasfinished early, transmits a device search response signal 1605. Havingreceived the device search response signal 1606, the control station 101registers the unique identification information of the node F 107included in the device search response signal in a detected node table1607, and stores this in the memory 203.

Once the node F 107 has finished transmitting the device search response1605 and no electric waves are detected on the wireless transmissionpath, the other nodes that received the device search signal 1601 onceagain perform the random backoff procedure 1608, and, as describedearlier, attempt transmission. The node 104, for which the randombackoff time has finished early, transmits a device search responsesignal 1609; having received this signal 1610, the control station 101updates the detected node table 1611 in the same manner as describedearlier.

However, the node E 106, which received the device search signal 1601but could not obtain a chance to perform transmission through the randombackoff procedure, goes over the number of access retries (1612), andthus abandons the response signal transmission. Accordingly, the controlstation 101 continues to receive the device search response signalsuntil the time set for the node detection time has passed, and once thistime times out at 1613, the control station 101 commences carriersensing (1614), and once again transmits the device search signal(1616). The repetitions of this procedure are the same as the processingperformed in the aforementioned beacon detection, and each of thedevices performs the similar processing (1617 to 1627).

As has been described thus far, the control station 101 may be caused toactively search for devices. In such a case, the chances for a node toreceive this search signal are increased by setting the node detectiontime to a short interval; as a result, there is the possibility that thesearch time can be reduced. Note that although detailed descriptionsregarding the device search signal shall be omitted here, it is possibleto communicate the period of validity of the signal by including the setvalue of the node detection time in the signal; this makes it possibleto avoid interference between newly-transmitted device search signalsand the response signals from the nodes.

Also note that the method for detecting nodes capable of wirelesscommunication with the control station 101 is described here as beingbased on communication between the control station 101 and the nodes asan example; however, this method is not limited thereto. For example,list information of the identification information of nodes to betransmitted to may be obtained, or detection may be carried out based oninstructions inputted by a user. Alternatively, a global positioningsystem (GPS) may be provided in the control station 101 and each of thenodes, and the nodes capable of wireless communication with the controlstation 101 may be detected thereby.

(Peripheral Node Search Processing)

Next, node search processing for searching for peripheral nodes withwhich each node is capable of wireless communications (peripheral nodesearch processing) shall be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B,and 5 to 7.

When the control unit 202 of the control station 101 detects pluralnodes and performs the processing from connection to node searching, thecontrol unit 202 proceeds to Step S601, and reads out a detected nodetable 501 stored in the memory 203. Then, the control unit 202 reads outthe unique identification information of a node for which a peripheralnode search has not been performed from among the node informationregistered in the table 501, sets the peripheral node search time in thetimer 204 in Step S602, and proceeds to Step S603.

In Step S603, a peripheral node search instruction signal (instructioninformation) 502, which includes peripheral node search time informationand which uses the unique identification information of the read-outnode (for example, 107) as the destination, is transmitted (controlledto be transmitted) via the wireless communication unit 201. Whentransmission of the peripheral node search instruction signal 502 hasfinished, a peripheral node search instruction response standby time isset in the timer 204 and the timer 204 is started (S604). Then, in StepsS605 and S606, the control unit 202 stands by for reception 505 of aresponse to the peripheral node search instruction. Here, in the casewhere the response signal is not obtained even after the peripheral nodesearch instruction response standby time passes (NO in Step S605, YES inStep S606), the procedure moves to Step S607. In Step S607, transmissionof the search instruction signal 502 to the same node F 107 is repeatedup until a maximum retransmission number set in advance.

Next, when the peripheral node search instruction response 505 isreceived (YES in Step S605), the procedure moves to Step S608. In StepS608, a peripheral node search time measurement timer set in the timer204 is started (506); the procedure moves to Step S609, where thecontrol unit 202 stands by until this time has passed.

On the other hand, the node F 107 that received the peripheral nodesearch instruction signal 503 sets the peripheral node search timeincluded in this signal in the timer 210, and transmits a peripheralnode search instruction response 504 addressed to the control station101 via the wireless communication unit 207. When transmission of theperipheral node search instruction response 504 has finished, theperipheral node search time measurement timer set in the timer 210 isstarted. Then, a device search signal 507 in which a broadcast addressis set is generated by the control unit 208 and transmitted via thewireless communication unit 207, and measurement of the device searchresponse standby time by the timer 210 is started (508).

The peripheral nodes 106, 105, and 102 that received this signal carryout carrier sensing for the random backoff time in the same manner aswhen connecting to the control station 101, after which the node E 106,which has not detected a carrier, transmits a device search responsesignal 509. The node F 107 that received the device search responsesignal 510 registers the unique identification information included inthis signal in a peripheral node search result table 511 and stores thisin the memory 209, and stands by for a response from other nodes. Thenodes D 105 and A 102, which received the device search signal 507previously and which experience conflict with the node E 106 in terms oftransmission timing, perform the random backoff procedure once againafter the node E 106 finishes transmission, and attempt transmission ofa response signal. Then, the node D 105, for which the backoff timepasses first in this procedure, transmits a device search responsesignal 512 that includes its own unique identification information. Thenode F 107 that received the device search response signal 513 updatesthe peripheral node search result table 514 with the uniqueidentification information included in this signal, in same manner aswhen the node E 106 was detected, and stores this in the memory 209. Theseries of operations for transmitting the device search signal once asperformed by the node F 107 continues until the device search responsestandby time passes, and once this standby time passes (516), the devicesearch signal 517 is transmitted once again. Here, when the set time ofthe peripheral node search time measurement timer started aftertransmission of the peripheral node search response 504 passes (518),the node F 107 finishes the series of peripheral device searchoperations. The node F 107 starts measurement of the response time bythe timer 210 when it sends the device search signal 517, but in theexample shown here, because the node search response timer times out(518) before the response timer times out (519), if the node F 107detects the node search timeout (518), it resets the response timer.

In the same manner, having detected the passing (520) of the set time ofthe peripheral node search time measurement timer, the control unit 202of the control station 101 proceeds to Step S610. Then, the control unit202 generates a node search result request signal 521 with the uniqueidentification information of the node F 107 used as the destination,and transmits this signal via the wireless communication unit 201. Afterthis, the control unit 202 of the control station 101 starts a responsestandby timer for this signal (Step S611), and stands by until aresponse is received (Steps S612 and S613). In the case where a responseis not obtained even after this node search result request responsestandby time has passed (NO in Step S612, YES in Step S613), theprocedure moves to S614, where transmission of the node search resultrequest signal 521 is repeated up until a maximum retransmission number.

Having received this node search result request signal 522, the node F107 generates a node search result response signal 523 that includesinformation of the peripheral node search table, and transmits thissignal to the control station 101 via the wireless communication unit207. Having received the node search result response signal 524, thecontrol unit 202 of the control station 101 associates the informationof the peripheral node search table 525 included in this signal with theunique identification information of the node F 107 and stores theresultant (Step S615), and adds a search completion flag to the detectednode table 501. Next, the procedure moves to Step S616. In Step S616, itis confirmed whether or not there is a node for which the peripheralnode search has not been completed, and in the case where there is anode for which the search has not been completed, the procedure moves toStep S601 and the series of operations is repeated. Then, the peripheralnode search result table for all nodes detected by the control station101, such as is shown in FIG. 7, is created and stored in the memory203. In the case where there are no nodes for which the search isincomplete, the peripheral node search processing ends, and the relaycommunication slot setting processing is carried out.

(Relay Communication Slot Computation Processing)

Next, relay communication slot computation processing (redundant pathcomputation processing) shall be described with reference to FIGS. 2A,2B, 8, and 9.

When the creation of the peripheral node search result table for allnodes detected by the control station 101, such as is shown in FIG. 7,is completed, the processing of Step S901 is carried out. In Step S901,the control unit 202 obtains, from the data processing apparatus 109,information including the number of pieces of node data to betransferred, indicated by 801 to 806, and the transmission speed(bitrate) of each of these pieces of data.

Next, in Step S902, the number of pieces of data to be multiplexed fordata transmission is read out from the information obtained in Step S901and the detected node table.

Next, in Step S903, wireless transmission speed information, indicatingthe wireless transmission speed (bitrate) at which the wirelesscommunication unit 201 is capable of performing wireless communication,is acquired from the wireless communication unit 201.

Next, in Step S904, the communication bandwidth necessary for data to betransmitted to all nodes is calculated from the transmission speed(bitrate) of one channel of the data to be transmitted and the number ofmultiplexed layers of the transmission channel. Then, the time necessaryfor transmission in the case where data of the calculated communicationbandwidth is transmitted at the wireless transmission speed indicated inthe wireless transmission speed information obtained in Step S903 iscalculated. It should be noted that FIG. 8 shows, for the sake ofsimplicity, an example where the data transmitted differs per node;however, the configuration according to the present embodiment can alsobe applied in the case where the same data is transmitted to pluralnodes. Also, in the case where the same data is transmitted to pluralnodes, there is no need to overlap and multiplex the same data. Forexample, in FIG. 8, in the case where data 802 and 803 are the same asdata 801, there is no need to overlap and multiplex the data 801 to 803;only data 804 to 806 need be multiplexed with the data 801. In thismanner, by multiplexing only the differing data, the communicationbandwidth can be used effectively, and data transmission can be carriedout efficiently.

Next, the procedure moves to Step S905, where the time allocable to therelay communication slot is calculated from a data period of validity807 of the data 801 to 806 transmitted from the data processingapparatus and the time necessary to wirelessly transmit all the datacalculated in Step S904. In other words, the number of relaycommunication slots that can be allocated within the data period ofvalidity 807 is calculated by dividing the data period of validity 807by the data transmission time 809 (=data period of validity 807/datatransmission time 809). Note that the data period of validity 807 isequivalent to the period of the beacon signal 810, as shown in FIG. 8.Then, the result of this calculation is stored in the memory 203 as thenumber of relay communication slots (S906), and the relay communicationslot calculation processing ends.

In the present embodiment, exemplary descriptions are given regardingthe processing in the case where the number of pieces of node dataspecified by the data processing apparatus 109 is the same as the numberof detected nodes. However, situations can be considered where thenumber of detected nodes is smaller or greater than the number of piecesof node data. As processing in the case where there is less node data,the communication paths of nodes aside from those specified asdestination nodes by the data processing apparatus 109 are disconnected.However, it is also possible to set these nodes as relay nodes in thecase where a relay path is valid as a result of the relay node selectionsetting processing described later. In the case where the node data isgreater than the number of detected nodes, it is possible to first referto the peripheral node search result table and then once again carry outconnection operations if there is a node undetected by the controlstation. In the connection processing operations, when a node cannot bedetected, it is also possible to multiplex and transmit the node data,and select a relay node so that plural communication paths can aresecured for undetected nodes via the relay node.

(Relay Node Selection Setting Processing)

The relay node selection setting processing (redundant path settingprocessing) shall be described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 2A,2B, and 10 to 12.

Having finished the relay communication slot computation, the controlunit 202 of the control station 101 commences the relay node selectionprocessing illustrated in FIG. 10. First, in Step S1001, the relaycommunication slot number calculated earlier is read out, after whichthe procedure moves to Step S1002. In Step S1002, the peripheral nodesearch result table (FIG. 7) is read out.

Then, in Step S1003, the details of the peripheral node search resulttable (FIG. 7) are referred to, and the table is reconfigured (FIG. 11),the nodes being arranged in order from nodes having higher numbers ofperipheral nodes that are capable of wireless communication with down.In the example shown in FIG. 7, nodes B to D (103 to 105) and node F 107have three peripheral nodes, whereas node A 102 and node E 106 have fiveperipheral nodes. For this reason, in Step S1003, the order of the nodesis rearranged so that the nodes A 102 and E 106, which have a greaternumber of peripheral nodes, are higher in the order, as shown in FIG.11.

Next, in Step S1004, nodes are selected in order from the uppermost nodein the reconfigured peripheral node search result table, the number ofnodes selected being equal to the number of relay communication slots.Next, in Step S1005, the number of communication paths for all nodes iscalculated based on the paths each node has with relay-capable nodes.

Then, in Step S1006, it is verified whether or not two or morecommunication paths have been set for all nodes as a result of thiscalculation. In the case where two or more communication paths are notset (NO in Step S1006), the procedure moves to Step S1007.

Then, in Step S1007, a node that does not meet the conditions isdetected, and two or more nodes capable of wireless communication withthis node are newly selected as relay nodes (relay apparatuses) from theperipheral node search result table (FIG. 11). Then, the procedure movesto Step S1005, where the calculation of the number of communicationpaths is once again carried out. This procedure is performed until arelay node that fulfills the conditions is found or until the pre-setmaximum calculation number is reached. When this processing is completed(YES in S1006), the procedure moves to S1008. In the present embodiment,through this processing, nodes are preferentially selected as relayapparatuses, starting with nodes that have the highest number of othernodes capable of wireless communication. This also means that a nodethat receives data from the control station 101 via two or moretransmission paths is present.

Next, in Step S1008, relay node selection is performed. At this time, inthe case where the communication path calculation processing has endeddue to the maximum calculation number being reached, the relay nodehaving the lowest number of nodes that do not fulfill the conditions isselected.

When the relay node selection of Step S1008 is completed, the proceduremoves to Step S1009, where the other selected nodes with which the nodeselected as the relay node is capable of wireless communication aredetected. The procedure then moves to S1010. In Step S1010, a node isselected starting with the relay node that has the most other relaynodes, based on the results of S1009, and a relay communication slotallocation order is determined. Then, in Step S1011, when the relaycommunication slot allocation is completed, the communication timingallocated to each relay node is calculated.

Next, the procedure moves to Step S1012, where relay node settinginstruction signals (1201, 1207, and 1213) including the calculatedtiming information and the unique identification information of theselected relay node are generated, and transmitted (communicated) to therelay nodes via the wireless communication unit 201. At the same timemeasurement of a response time commences (1202, 1208, and 1214). Therelay nodes that received the relay node setting instruction signals1203, 1209, and 1215 transmit relay node setting instruction responses1204, 1210, and 1216 to the control station 101. In addition, each relaynode sets the relay communication slot information included in the relaynode setting instruction signals 1203, 1209, and 1215 in the timer 210of the relay nodes, and the setting processing is completed thereby. Onreceiving the relay node setting instruction responses (1205, 1211, and1217), the control station stops the measurement of a response time(1206, 1212, and 1218) and starts to sense carriers.

(Data Transmission Processing)

Next, data transmission processing operations (data receptionprocessing, data relay processing, data transmission control processing)shall be described with reference to FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 12 to 15.

First, upon receiving a data transmission request signal from the dataprocessing apparatus 109 via the external interface 205, the controlunit 202 of the control station 101 transmits a response signal to thedata processing apparatus 109. After this, upon receiving the node datato be communicated from the data processing apparatus 109 via theexternal interface 205, the control unit 202 stores this data in thememory 203. Then, calculations including error correction coding and theframe check sequence 1314 are performed on each of the received piecesof data, after which data identification information 1316 addressed toeach node and length information 1317 is generated per piece of data.

When this processing is completed for all of the node data, processingfor generating a header for the data frame illustrated in FIG. 13 iscarried out. In the header generation processing, code 1304 indicatingthe data is set in the frame type 1301, a broadcast address is set inthe destination address 1305, and the unique identification informationof the station itself is set in the origin address 1306. Next, codeindicating data 1310 is set in the subtype area 1308 of the controlfield 1307, and the number of data channels transmitted from the dataprocessing apparatus 109 is set in the data layer number 1311 of theparameter area 1309.

After this, code indicating the source is set in the data type 1312,information such as, for example, the generation time of the stream datais set in the time stamp field 1313, and the FCS 1314 is set after allframe check sequence computations of the header are performed. Once thisseries of processing is completed, the control unit 202 of the controlstation 101 transmits (1223) data to all the nodes via the wirelesscommunication unit 201, as shown in FIG. 12B.

Next, the data reception processing performed by nodes shall bedescribed with reference to FIG. 14. Upon receiving data via thewireless communication unit 207, the control unit 208 of the node storesthe received data in the memory 209, and commences the data receptionprocessing. Then, in Step S1401, a frame check sequence (FCS)computation for the data frame is carried out, and the header is checkedfor errors (Step S1402). Here, in the case where there are errors in theheader, the received data frame is abandoned; in the case where thereare no errors, the frame type 1301 is identified in Step S1403, and inStep S1405, it is confirmed that a data frame is being received. Notethat although the header identification is performed during the dataprocessing in the present embodiment, the identification of the frametype 1301 may be performed at the point in time when the frame isreceived and transferred to the memory 209, and processing appropriatefor the frame type may be carried out.

When the identification of the data frame is completed, the originaddress 1306 is read out in Step S1406, and in Steps S1407 and S1408, itis determined whether or not the origin address matches the address ofthe control station 101 or the address of the relay station. In the casewhere the addresses match, the received data is correct, whereas in thecase where the addresses do not match, the data is incorrect.

First, in Step S1407, it is determined whether or not the origin addressmatches the address of the control station. In the case where thecontrol station address and the origin address 1306 match (YES in StepS1407), the procedure moves to Step S1409. On the other hand, in thecase where the control station address and the origin address 1306 donot match (NO in Step S1407), in Step S1408, it is determined whether ornot the origin address 1306 and the relay station address match. In thecase where the addresses match (YES in Step S1408), the procedure movesto Step S1409, whereas in the case where the addresses do not match (NOin Step S1408), the processing ends.

In Step S1409, the control information field is read out, and theprocedure moves to Step S1410. In Step S1410, it is confirmed whether ornot the terminal itself is set as the relay terminal. Then, in the casewhere the terminal itself is set as the relay terminal, the proceduremoves to Step S1411, where the received data is transferred to a relaydata storage area of the memory 209, after which the procedure moves toStep S1412; in the case where the terminal itself is not set as therelay terminal, the procedure moves to Step S1412.

In Step S1412, the data identification information 1316 is detected fromthe information field 1315 of the received frame, and the data blockcontaining the identification information addressed to the terminalitself is loaded with reference to the length information 1317. Afterthis, in Steps S1413 and S1414, error correction processing and errorchecking through a frame check sequence is performed in the data of theterminal itself 1318. Of this error correction, error correctionperformed through error correction code can be performed when thereceived data is transferred, by the control unit 208 performing headeranalysis at the same time as the data being transferred from thewireless communication unit 207 to the memory 209, at the time of framereception.

The error repair processing indicated here (Step S1414) includesprocessing for determining the presence/absence of a correct instance ofdata reception prior to the present instance of data reception; in thecase where the correct data has already been received, the error repairprocessing (Step S1414) is completed. Processing for performing errorrepair through maximum likelihood processing using plural pieces ofreceived data performed in the case where there is an error in allpieces of the received data addressed to the station itself is alsoincluded herein. When the series of data reception processing finishes,the data reception processing is complete.

Next, processing performed by the node set as the relay node shall bedescribed. First, the node set as the relay station receives the beaconsignal 1219 transmitted from the control station 101 and then commencesmeasurement of the slot time (1220 to 1222), based on the relaycommunication slot information included in the relay node settinginstruction signal from the control station 101 mentioned above. Then,when the processing of receiving the data frames received from thecontrol station 101 is completed, the control unit 206 commences thedata relay processing, and checks for the presence/absence of errors inall the data blocks received in Step S1501. Here, if an error isdetected in the data blocks (Step S1502), it is determined whether ornot there are already plural received frames (Step S1503). In the casewhere plural data frames have been received (YES in Step S1503), thedata blocks in which the error has been detected are compared to oneanother (Step S1504). Then, in the case where the data block thatincludes the error is replaceable with the data block included in theother data frame, the data block that includes the error is replacedwith the correct data block, and the data frame is reconfigured (StepsS1505, S1506). In the case where the error in the data block cannot berepaired or the case where there is a data frame that does not includean error, the procedure moves to the next processing withoutreconfiguring the data frame. The data frame that includes the error isrelayed particularly so as to carry out the maximum likelihoodprocessing using plural data blocks in the error repair processingincluded in the data reception processing described earlier.

When this processing is completed, the procedure moves to Step S1507,where the header generation processing, such as setting the uniqueidentification information of the station itself in the origin addressfield 1308 and resetting the code indicating the relay in the data type1312, is performed. Then, the procedure moves to Step S1508, where thepassage of the relay communication slot time commenced earlier ismonitored; if the time has not passed a set time, the procedure moves toStep S1509, where the presence/absence of data reception from a node isconfirmed. These operations are repeated until any of the aforementionedconditions are fulfilled; in the case where the relay communication slottime has been reached (1224, 1226, and 1228), the relay data istransmitted to the other nodes via the wireless communication unit 207in Step S1510 (1225, 1227, and 1229), and the processing ends.

As described thus far, in the present embodiment, the control station101 detects plural nodes (terminal stations, terminal apparatuses) 102to 107, causes each of the detected nodes to search for peripheralterminal stations with which wireless communication is possible, andgathers the identification information of the detected peripheralterminals. Then, based on the collected identification information ofthe peripheral terminals, a relay terminal station is selected so thatthere is a node that receives data from the control station apparatusvia two or more transmission paths, and the relay terminal station isassigned the role of the relay terminal (relay apparatus). This relayterminal performs the processing for relaying the data transmitted fromthe control station 101. In other words, upon receiving the datatransmitted from the control station 101 and addressed to all of theterminal stations, the node selected as the relay terminal stationrelays the data to other terminal stations according to a relaycommunication timing. For this reason, this relay data is received bynodes via two or more communication paths, including from the relayterminal station.

Therefore, according to the configuration of the present embodiment,communication is not interrupted and the probability of being able toobtain the correct data from another communication path can be improved,even in the case where one of the communication paths from the controlstation 101 or another relay station is temporarily disconnected and thedata cannot be correctly received. For this reason, for example, it ispossible to perform wireless data transmission with a high degree ofreliability, even in an environment in which the application of aretransmission procedure is difficult, such as the case of wirelesslytransmitting stream data such as an acoustic signal or a video signalfor which the period of validity of the data is particularly short.

Second Embodiment

In the present embodiment, a configuration shall be described in whichthe relay apparatus is furthermore selected, or in other words, thetransmission path is set, based on the quality of communication betweenterminals. Control operations according to the second embodiment shallbe described with reference to FIGS. 11, 12A-12C, and 17A to 20.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are sequence diagrams illustrating operations formeasuring the quality of communication between nodes after the controlstation 101 has detected the nodes 102 to 107. FIG. 18 is acommunication quality measurement result table showing results of themeasurement of the quality of communication. FIGS. 19A and 19B areflowcharts illustrating communication quality measurement processingperformed between the control station 101 and the nodes 102 to 107. FIG.20 is a flowchart illustrating a relay node selection setting processingthat refers to the communication quality information.

(Description of Communication Quality Measurement Operations)

Hereinafter, the communication quality measurement operations betweenthe control station 101 and the nodes 102 to 107 shall be described withreference to FIGS. 2A, 2B, 13, and 17A to 19B.

First, the control unit 202 of the control station 101 detects nodescapable of wireless communication in the same manner as the procedure ofthe first embodiment (Step S401 to S407 in FIG. 19A). When the nodesearch is completed through this series of operations, the detected nodetable 308 is read out, and the node F 107, for which the communicationquality measurement is not complete, is detected (Step S1901). Next,when the node F 107 is detected, the unique identification informationof the node F 107 is set as the destination address 1305, and ameasurement data frame header, in which the number of multiplexed datalayers 1311 of the control field 1307 is set at 1, is generated.

Next, a predetermined measurement data transmission time is set in thetimer 204, and after the measurement is commenced in Step S1902, theprocedure moves to Step S1903. In Step S1903, a measurement data framethat has the header generated earlier is transmitted (1701) via thewireless communication unit 201 until the measurement data transmissiontime finishes (NO in Step S1904). The node F 107 that receives themeasurement data frame 1702 stores reception electric field intensityinformation of the time at which the frame is received in the memory209, and also measures the error rate of the data. This error ratemeasurement can detect the number of errors using error correction code;however, a more simplified measurement can be carried out by dividingthe data blocks arranged in the information fields into plural blocks,multiplexing these blocks, and performing FCS 1319 computation on thedata blocks. The measurement performed by the node F 107 is carried outuntil the measurement data frame from the control station ends, and whenthe reception of this frame ends, a communication quality measurementresults table including the frame and the reception electric fieldintensity level detected earlier is created (1703) and stored in thememory 209.

In this manner, the measurement data frame is transmitted, and when thetimer 204 of the control station 101 detects that the measurement datatransmission time has timed out (YES in Step S1904), the transmission ofthe transmission data of the control unit 202 ends. Then, when thetransmission of the measurement data frame is completed, the proceduremoves to Step S1905, where a measurement result transmission instruction1704 is transmitted to the node F 107 (1704) and a result response isreceived, or the request operations are repeated until a result responseis received within a maximum retransmission number (Steps S1905 toS1908).

Having received this measurement result transmission instruction 1705,the node F 107 transmits a measurement result signal 1706 including thecommunication quality measurement result table 1703 stored in the memory209 to the control station 101. Having received the measurement resultsignal 1707 (YES in Step S1906), the control station 101 updates thecommunication quality measurement result table to that shown in FIG. 18using the information (1708) of the communication quality between itselfand the node F 107, and stores the table in the memory 203 (Step S1909);the procedure then moves to Step S1910. In Step S1910, thepresence/absence of nodes for which this communication qualitymeasurement has not been completed is detected; in the case where themeasurement has been completed for all of the nodes connected to thecontrol station, the processing ends, whereas when there are still nodesfor which the measurement is not complete, the aforementioned operationsare repeated.

Through this procedure, it is possible to obtain information of thecommunication quality between all nodes 102 to 107 connected to thecontrol station 101. By using this information as a parameter fordetermining the selection of the relay node and the allocation of relaycommunication slots, highly reliable redundant data transmission can berealized.

While the descriptions of the present embodiment discuss a receptionelectric field intensity 1801 and an error rate 1802, it goes withoutsaying that it is not imperative that both of these pieces ofinformation be present. In addition, although only a single value isshown for each piece of communication quality information, this is forthe sake of simplicity; it is also possible to provide plural values,such as a maximum value and a minimum (worst) value, taking intoconsideration variations in the transmission paths.

(Relay Node Selection Setting Processing based on Communication QualityInformation)

A relay node selection setting operation that refers to thecommunication quality information shall be described hereinafter withreference to FIGS. 11, 12, 18, and 20.

After the obtainment of the communication quality information asdescribed earlier, the control unit 202 of the control station 101computes the relay communication slots through the same procedure as inthe first embodiment; then, the relay node selection setting procedureis commenced. In the relay node selection setting operation, first, thenumber of relay communication slots and the peripheral node searchresult table is read out (Steps S1001, S1002); then, the communicationquality measurement result table shown in FIG. 18 is read out (StepS2001). Next, the procedure moves to Step S1003, where the table isreconfigured, the nodes being arranged in order from nodes having highernumbers of peripheral nodes that are capable of wireless communicationwith down; the procedure then moves to Step S2002.

In Step S2002, the communication quality measurement result table (FIG.18) is referred to, and the nodes having a matching number of peripheralnodes capable of wireless communication are rearranged in order fromnodes with high communication quality; the table is reconfigured basedthereupon. Next, nodes are selected from the reconfigured peripheralnode search result table from the top down, the number of nodes selectedbeing the same as the number of relay communication slots (Step S1004),and the number of communication paths for all nodes is calculated basedon the paths from each node to nodes capable of relay (Step S1005).Next, through the same processing as in the first embodiment, processingfor setting two or more communication paths for all nodes is performed(Steps S1005 to S1007), and the relay node is selected in the relay nodeselection processing (Step S1008). At this time, in the case where thecommunication path calculation processing has ended due to the maximumcalculation number being reached, the relay node having the lowestnumber of nodes that do not fulfill the conditions is selected.

When the relay node selection is completed, the procedure moves to StepS1009, where the other selected relay nodes 1101 and 1102 (FIG. 11) withwhich the node selected as the relay node is capable of wirelesscommunication are detected. The procedure then moves to S2003. In StepS2003, the relay node with the highest quality of communication with thecontrol station 101 is selected as a first relay node; then, a singlerelay node that includes the most other relay nodes is selected, inorder, from the results of Step S1009. The allocation order of the relaycommunication slots is determined in accordance with this selectionorder. When the relay communication slot allocation is completed, thecommunication timing allocated to each relay node is calculated, andrelay node setting instruction signals 1201, 1207, and 1213 aretransmitted to each of the relay nodes. The relay nodes that receivedthe relay node setting instruction signals 1203, 1209, and 1215 transmitrelay node setting instruction responses 1204, 1210, and 1216 (1205,1211, and 1217) to the control station 101. In addition, each relay nodesets the relay communication slot information included in the relay nodesetting instruction signals 1203, 1209, and 1215 in the timer 210 of therelay nodes, and the setting processing is completed thereby.

Here, in the present embodiment, the communication timing iscommunicated to each of the relay nodes, and the selected relay nodesmeasure the amount of time from the beacon timing to the timing of relaytransmission. However, the communication timing calculated earlier maybe managed by the control station 101, and each of the relay nodes maybe authorized for transmission in accordance with this timing.

As described thus far, according to the configuration of the presentembodiment, the relay apparatus is selected based on the quality ofcommunication between terminals. For this reason, data transmission witheven higher reliability is possible.

Other Embodiments

Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described indetail above, it is possible for the invention to take on the form of asystem, apparatus, program or storage medium. More specifically, thepresent invention may be applied to a system comprising a plurality ofdevices or to an apparatus comprising a single device.

It should be noted that there are cases where the object of theinvention is attained also by supplying a program, which implements thefunctions of the foregoing embodiments, directly or remotely to a systemor apparatus, reading the supplied program codes with a computer of thesystem or apparatus, and then executing the program codes.

Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention areimplemented by computer, the program codes per se installed in thecomputer also fall within the technical scope of the present invention.In other words, the present invention also covers the computer programitself that is for the purpose of implementing the functions of thepresent invention.

In this case, so long as the system or apparatus has the functions ofthe program, the form of the program, e.g., object code, a programexecuted by an interpreter or script data supplied to an operatingsystem, etc., does not matter.

Examples of storage media that can be used for supplying the program area floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk,magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, non-volatiletype memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R), etc.

As for the method of supplying the program, a client computer can beconnected to a website on the Internet using a browser possessed by theclient computer, and the computer program per se of the presentinvention or a compressed file that contains an automatic installationfunction can be downloaded to a recording medium such as a hard disk.Further, the program of the present invention can be supplied bydividing the program code constituting the program into a plurality offiles and downloading the files from different websites. In other words,a WWW server that downloads, to multiple users, the program files thatimplement the functions of the present invention by computer also iscovered by the present invention.

Further, it is also possible to encrypt and store the program of thepresent invention on a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distribute thestorage medium to users, allow users who meet certain requirements todownload decryption key information from a website via the Internet, andallow these users to run the encrypted program by using the keyinformation, whereby the program is installed in the user computer.Further, besides the case where the aforesaid functions according to theembodiment are implemented by executing the read program by computer, anoperating system or the like running on the computer may perform all ora part of the actual processing so that the functions of the foregoingembodiment can be implemented by this processing.

Furthermore, after the program read from the storage medium is writtento a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into thecomputer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, a CPUor the like mounted on the function expansion board or functionexpansion unit performs all or a part of the actual processing so thatthe functions of the foregoing embodiment can be implemented by thisprocessing.

Thus, in accordance with the present invention, as described above, itis possible to provide a technique through which the confidentiality ofprint data can be maintained even under such circumstances asinterruption of power.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of the present inventioncan be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it isto be understood that the invention is not limited to the specificembodiments thereof except as defined in the appended claims.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide atechnique that prevents data loss stemming from changes in thecommunication environment and that is capable of transmitting datawirelessly with high reliability, in a system in which data istransmitted wirelessly from a control station to plural communicationapparatuses.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2006-316325, filed Nov. 22, 2006, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A control apparatus that sends data to aplurality of communication apparatuses, the control apparatuscomprising: a receiving unit configured to receive, from each of theplurality of communication apparatuses, identification information ofother communication apparatuses with which the communication apparatusis capable of communication; a selection unit configured to select, fromthe plurality of communication apparatuses, one or more communicationapparatuses, which perform a maximum likelihood process for datareceived from two or more apparatuses and send data obtained by themaximum likelihood process, as one or more relay apparatuses; aninstruction unit configured to instruct the communication apparatusselected by the selection unit as the relay apparatus to relay data; adecision unit configured to decide a communication timing at which theone or more relay apparatuses selected by the selection unit relay thedata; and a notifying control unit configured to notify the one or morerelay apparatuses selected by the selection unit of the communicationtiming.
 2. The control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theselection unit selects the relay apparatus so that the one or more relayapparatuses and at least one of the plurality of communicationapparatuses receive data, which was sent by the control apparatus, fromtwo or more of any of the control apparatus and the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses.
 3. The control apparatus according to claim1, further comprising: a discrimination unit configured to discriminate,for each of the plurality of communication apparatuses, the number ofthe other communication apparatuses with which the communicationapparatus is capable of communication, based on the identificationinformation received by the receiving unit, wherein the selection unitselects, from the plurality of communication apparatuses, one or morerelay apparatuses that relay the data, which was sent by the controlapparatus, based on the number of the other communication apparatuseswith which the communication apparatus is capable of communication. 4.The control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: asending control unit configured to send, to each of the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses, instruction information instructing thedetection of the other communication apparatuses with which thecommunication apparatus is capable of wireless communication, whereinthe receiving unit receives the identification information from each ofthe plurality of communication apparatuses that carried out detection inresponse to the reception of the instruction information.
 5. The controlapparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a detection unitconfigured to detect a communication apparatus capable of wirelesscommunication with the control apparatus, wherein the sending controlunit sends the instruction information to the communication apparatusdetected by the detection unit.
 6. The control apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the receiving unit further receives, from each of theplurality of communication apparatuses, quality information indicatingquality of communication between the communication apparatus and thecontrol apparatus, and wherein the selection unit selects one or morerelay apparatuses based further on the quality information.
 7. Thecontrol apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the selection unitpreferentially selects the one or more relay apparatuses from theplurality of communication apparatuses having the highest quality ofcommunication with the control apparatus.
 8. A control method for acontrol apparatus that sends data to a plurality of communicationapparatuses, the control method comprising: receiving, from each of theplurality of communication apparatuses, identification information ofother communication apparatuses with which the communication apparatusis capable of communication; selecting, from the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses, one or more communication apparatuses, whichperform a maximum likelihood process for data received from two or moreapparatuses and send data obtained by the maximum likelihood process, asone or more relay apparatuses; instructing the communication apparatusselected as the relay apparatus to relay data; deciding a communicationtiming at which the one or more relay apparatuses selected by theselecting relay the data; and notifying the one or more relayapparatuses selected by the selecting of the communication timing.
 9. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program that,when executed by a processor, implements a control method for a controlapparatus that sends data to a plurality of communication apparatuses,the control method comprising: receiving, from each of the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses, identification information of othercommunication apparatuses with which the communication apparatus iscapable of communication; selecting, from the plurality of communicationapparatuses, one or more communication apparatuses, which perform amaximum likelihood process for data received from two or moreapparatuses and send data obtained by the maximum likelihood process, asone or more relay apparatuses; instructing the communication apparatusselected as the relay apparatus to relay data; deciding a communicationtiming at which the one or more relay apparatuses selected by theselecting relay the data and notifying the one or more relay apparatusesselected by the selecting of the communication timing.
 10. A controlapparatus that sends data to a plurality of communication apparatuses,the control apparatus comprising: a receiving unit configured toreceive, from each of the plurality of communication apparatuses,identification information of other communication apparatuses with whichthe communication apparatus is capable of communication; a selectionunit configured to select, from the plurality of communicationapparatuses, one or more communication apparatuses, which perform amaximum likelihood process for data received from two or moreapparatuses and send data obtained by the maximum likelihood process, asone or more relay apparatuses; and an instruction unit configured toinstruct the communication apparatus selected by the selection unit asthe relay apparatus to relay data, wherein the selection unitpreferentially selects, as the relay apparatus, the communicationapparatus having the higher number of the other communicationapparatuses with which the communication apparatus is capable of directcommunication rather than the communication apparatus having the smallernumber of the other communication apparatuses with which thecommunication apparatus is capable of direct communication.
 11. Thecontrol apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the selection unitselects the relay apparatus so that the one or more relay apparatusesand at least one of the plurality of communication apparatuses receivedata, which was sent by the control apparatus, from two or more of anyof the control apparatus and the plurality of communication apparatuses.12. The control apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising: adiscrimination unit configured to discriminate, for each of theplurality of communication apparatuses, the number of the othercommunication apparatuses with which the communication apparatus iscapable of communication, based on the identification informationreceived by the receiving unit, wherein the selection unit selects, fromthe plurality of communication apparatuses, one or more relayapparatuses that relay the data, which was sent by the controlapparatus, based on the number of the other communication apparatuseswith which the communication apparatus is capable of communication. 13.The control apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising: asending control unit configured to send, to each of the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses, instruction information instructing thedetection of the other communication apparatuses with which thecommunication apparatus is capable of wireless communication, whereinthe receiving unit receives the identification information from each ofthe plurality of communication apparatuses that carried out detection inresponse to the reception of the instruction information.
 14. Thecontrol apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising: a detectionunit configured to detect a communication apparatus capable of wirelesscommunication with the control apparatus, wherein the sending controlunit sends the instruction information to the communication apparatusdetected by the detection unit.
 15. The control apparatus according toclaim 10, wherein the receiving unit further receives, from each of theplurality of communication apparatuses, quality information indicatingquality of communication between the communication apparatus and thecontrol apparatus, and wherein the selection unit selects one or morerelay apparatuses based further on the quality information.
 16. Thecontrol apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the selection unitpreferentially selects the one or more relay apparatuses from theplurality of communication apparatuses having the highest quality ofcommunication with the control apparatus.
 17. A control method for acontrol apparatus that sends data to a plurality of communicationapparatuses, the control method comprising: receiving, from each of theplurality of communication apparatuses, identification information ofother communication apparatuses with which the communication apparatusis capable of communication; selecting, from the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses, one or more communication apparatuses, whichperform a maximum likelihood process for data received from two or moreapparatuses and send data obtained by the maximum likelihood process, asone or more relay apparatuses; and instructing the communicationapparatus selected as the relay apparatus to relay data, wherein in theselecting, the communication apparatus having the higher number of theother communication apparatuses with which the communication apparatusis capable of direct communication is preferentially selected as therelay apparatus rather than the communication apparatus having thesmaller number of the other communication apparatuses with which thecommunication apparatus is capable of direct communication.
 18. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program that,when executed by a processor, implements a control method for a controlapparatus that sends data to a plurality of communication apparatuses,the control method comprising: receiving, from each of the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses, identification information of othercommunication apparatuses with which the communication apparatus iscapable of communication; selecting, from the plurality of communicationapparatuses, one or more communication apparatuses, which perform amaximum likelihood process for data received from two or moreapparatuses and send data obtained by the maximum likelihood process, asone or more relay apparatuses; and instructing the communicationapparatus selected as the relay apparatus to relay data, wherein in theselecting, the communication apparatus having the higher number of theother communication apparatuses with which the communication apparatusis capable of direct communication is preferentially selected as therelay apparatus rather than the communication apparatus having thesmaller number of the other communication apparatuses with which thecommunication apparatus is capable of direct communication.
 19. Acontrol apparatus that sends data to a plurality of communicationapparatuses, the control apparatus comprising: a receiving unitconfigured to receive, from each of the plurality of communicationapparatuses, identification information of other communicationapparatuses with which the communication apparatus is capable ofcommunication; a selection unit configured to select, from the pluralityof communication apparatuses, one or more communication apparatuses,which perform a maximum likelihood process for data received from two ormore apparatuses and send data obtained by the maximum likelihoodprocess, as one or more relay apparatuses; an instruction unitconfigured to instruct the communication apparatus selected by theselection unit as the relay apparatus to relay data; a first calculationunit configured to calculate a transmission time for data to betransmitted within a predetermined beacon transmission period cyclebased on the amount of the data to be transmitted within thepredetermined beacon transmission period cycle and the bandwidth usableamong the apparatuses; and a second calculation unit configured tocalculate the number of relay communication slots that can be allocatedwithin the predetermined beacon transmission period cycle based on thetransmission time and the predetermined beacon transmission periodcycle, wherein the selection unit selects the one or more relayapparatuses, the number of which corresponds to the number of relaycommunication slots calculated by the second calculation unit.
 20. Thecontrol apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the selection unitselects the relay apparatus so that the one or more relay apparatusesand at least one of the plurality of communication apparatuses receivedata, which was sent by the control apparatus, from two or more of anyof the control apparatus and the plurality of communication apparatuses.21. The control apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising: adiscrimination unit configured to discriminate, for each of theplurality of communication apparatuses, the number of the othercommunication apparatuses with which the communication apparatus iscapable of communication, based on the identification informationreceived by the receiving unit, wherein the selection unit selects, fromthe plurality of communication apparatuses, one or more relayapparatuses that relay the data, which was sent by the controlapparatus, based on the number of the other communication apparatuseswith which the communication apparatus is capable of communication. 22.The control apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising: asending control unit configured to send, to each of the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses, instruction information instructing thedetection of the other communication apparatuses with which thecommunication apparatus is capable of wireless communication, whereinthe receiving unit receives the identification information from each ofthe plurality of communication apparatuses that carried out detection inresponse to the reception of the instruction information.
 23. Thecontrol apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising: a detectionunit configured to detect a communication apparatus capable of wirelesscommunication with the control apparatus, wherein the sending controlunit sends the instruction information to the communication apparatusdetected by the detection unit.
 24. The control apparatus according toclaim 19, wherein the receiving unit further receives, from each of theplurality of communication apparatuses, quality information indicatingquality of communication between the communication apparatus and thecontrol apparatus, and wherein the selection unit selects one or morerelay apparatuses based further on the quality information.
 25. Thecontrol apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the selection unitpreferentially selects the one or more relay apparatuses from theplurality of communication apparatuses having the highest quality ofcommunication with the control apparatus.
 26. A control method for acontrol apparatus that sends data to a plurality of communicationapparatuses, the control method comprising: receiving, from each of theplurality of communication apparatuses, identification information ofother communication apparatuses with which the communication apparatusis capable of communication; selecting, from the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses, one or more communication apparatuses, whichperform a maximum likelihood process for data received from two or moreapparatuses and send data obtained by the maximum likelihood process, asone or more relay apparatuses; instructing the communication apparatusselected as the relay apparatus to relay data; calculating atransmission time for data to be transmitted within a predeterminedbeacon transmission period cycle based on the amount of the data to betransmitted within the predetermined beacon transmission period cycleand the bandwidth usable among the apparatuses; and calculating thenumber of relay communication slots that can be allocated within thepredetermined beacon transmission period cycle based on the transmissiontime and the predetermined beacon transmission period cycle, wherein theone or more relay apparatuses, the number of which corresponds to thecalculated number of relay communication slots, are selected.
 27. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program that,when executed by a processor, implements a control method for a controlapparatus that sends data to a plurality of communication apparatuses,the control method comprising: receiving, from each of the plurality ofcommunication apparatuses, identification information of othercommunication apparatuses with which the communication apparatus iscapable of communication; selecting, from the plurality of communicationapparatuses, one or more communication apparatuses, which perform amaximum likelihood process for data received from two or moreapparatuses and send data obtained by the maximum likelihood process, asone or more relay apparatuses; instructing the communication apparatusselected as the relay apparatus to relay data; calculating atransmission time for data to be transmitted within a predeterminedbeacon transmission period cycle based on the amount of the data to betransmitted within the predetermined beacon transmission period cycleand the bandwidth usable among the apparatuses; and calculating thenumber of relay communication slots that can be allocated within thepredetermined beacon transmission period cycle based on the transmissiontime and the predetermined beacon transmission period cycle, wherein theone or more relay apparatuses, the number of which corresponds to thecalculated number of relay communication slots, are selected.